WASHINGTON, April 25. /TASS/. Representatives from the United States and Niger will hold a meeting in Niamey on Thursday to begin formally discussing the withdrawal of American forces from the African country. This is what we read in a written statement released by State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
According to the latter, the American ambassador to Niger, Kathleen FitzGibbon, and General Ken Ekman, representing the United States Africa Command, will take part in the discussions on the American side. The talks will begin with ‘discussions on an orderly and responsible withdrawal of U.S. forces from Niger.’
The State Department specified that these discussions will be followed by ‘meetings in Niamey to coordinate this withdrawal process in transparency and mutual respect’. The spokesperson said US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell will visit Niger in the coming months to discuss cooperation in areas where the parties’ interests overlap.
Miller admitted that Washington failed to reach an ag
reement with the National Council for the Preservation of the Fatherland to continue defense cooperation in the same format.
Niger broke a military agreement with the United States in March which provided for the creation of an American drone base in the north of the country. Explaining their decision, Nigerien military authorities said the agreement had been imposed on the country and was not in line with the interests of its population. At the end of 2023, there were some 1,100 U.S. military personnel in the country, most of them at an air base near Agadez.
At the end of July 2023, a group of soldiers from the Presidential Guard mutinied and announced the dismissal of Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum. The National Council for the Safeguarding of the Homeland, led by Presidential Guard Commander Abdourahamane Tchiani, was created to govern the country.
Source: Burkina Information Agency